KURAKUEN Annex

Five years after the Kurakuen Addition (to the original Kurakuen residence), I added this annex. I had thought there was no more buildable land on the site, but there was a small level area surrounded by a steep slope, at a lower level than the garden. This spot was able to accommodate a small wood-frame outbuilding. The occupants primarily use it as a study. On top is a roof deck, reminiscent of a stairway landing, which functions as an extension of the garden. A cube perched on a skylight is topped with a pane of glass to form a table, the glass letting through light so that it still functions as a skylight.
Later, a client in Nagoya who saw the Kurakuen house in a book asked me to design a residence on an acutely inclined site. This became Bird House (2010), in which techniques used to make the Kurakuen Annex seemingly cling to the hillside are employed throughout the entire structure.